Burned body found in Arizona identified as Nebraska teen

MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. (WOWT/Gray News) – A body found burned in the Arizona desert has been identified as that of an 18-year-old from Nebraska.

Maricopa County deputies are investigating the death of Parker League, who was found dead in Lost Dutchman State Park on Monday, June 12. The victim’s family had reported League missing three days after that.

Deputies have said League was visiting friends in Arizona, though it still isn’t clear how Parker’s body ended up at the burn pit in Tonto National Forest.

Tempe Police previously said that League’s belongings were found at a home there when a family member reported him missing.

Former Phoenix Police Department Sgt. Troy Hillman said that DNA collected at the scene and any remnants of blunt force trauma could help provide a clearer picture of what happened.

Crime experts said detectives will likely also use cellphone data and certain characteristics of the body to piece together the investigation.

“Cell phones, computers — that’s going to reveal a lot of different information,” said Jim Egleston, a retired FBI Special Agent and owner of Baseline Investigations. “It’s going to take some time to recover and extract the data from those devices if they were destroyed in the fire or some other way. That data might still be available.”

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